High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #6 | The Ashen Road (Part 1)

Episode Date: December 12, 2023

The team deal with the remaining Gnolls, play a friendly game of "Trust!" and Ophelia begins a hunt! Support the High Rollers on Patreon and get early access to Podcast episodes, vods and more: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound, TCT Adventures (Solasta: Crown of the Magisters) and Jolene Khor! Check out Jolene Khor and all her wonderful work on High Rollers on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1WX3ICiTmf4GpHwImnQMs6 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Do we seriously have to eat burnt food to save 20 bucks? It's 20 bucks? 20 bucks. Need I remind you, made in Italy. You don't need to tell me. We're getting this pan. Deal so good, everyone approves. Only at HomeSense. TD and your small business go together like... TD's small business account managers have in-depth business banking expertise,

so they can give you the advice and resources you need to make your day-to-day easier. So if you're ready to meet your small business match, we're ready for you. Visit td.com slash smallbusinessmatch to book an appointment with one of our advisors. Hello, and welcome back to High Roll's Althea the Dragon Empire. After stocking up on various supplies for their journey ahead, our newly formed party have left the village of Burnell behind and set foot on the road towards the town of Ashen Rest, home of the Draconic noble Duke Ignarius and a major trade town in the province of

Caldra. With a few soldiers as an escort and the authorita, Zaron Tekis accompanying them on their initial travels were easy and calm. However on the second night as they began to make camp, a hideous laughter was heard echoing around the hills, followed by an ambush by gnolls vault spawn creatures created long ago and infected with demonic madness and hunger that drives them to commit unspeakable acts and the battle will now continue as we left things off in the middle of a combat we are jumping straight back in and i am informed uh by mr chris trot himself that the last person to act was at the Xaron techies and I will take your word for that

Sir, and I will assume the initiative from that point very positive about that, but there's one thing we must do something I think it was a no. There's one thing we must do first. May you each pick up a d6? This is a homebrew system. Fuck! I don't think I've ever rolled in our favorite one. As a refresh on the rules, everybody at the beginning of a session rolls a d6. On a one to three, a dice is added to my side of the Crucible of Fate. On a roll of a four, five, or six, a dice is added to the player's side of the Crucible.

And these dice can be spent in different ways. Some ways are for the players, and some ways are for me, and they do vary. But ultimately, they are ways of changing your fate or adding interesting scenes and moments to the narrative. So may I ask, Katie, what did you roll? A one, therefore one dice was added to my pool. Oh, yay.

God, that's really cheese. Tom. I rolled a one. Oh, then another dice shall be added to my pool. Tom. I rolled a one. Oh, then another dice shall be added to my pool. Kim. Two. Two, one more dice is added to my pool. Chris Trot. Six. A six.

A player dice is added to the player pool. A six also. A six. Yay! We did it. She did it. I have yet to roll mine. Uh-huh.

A two! Ah, so we're four and two. Four and two. In the name of Mark. Yes. And I won't read through it now, but we will probably have a reminder. The players have sheets of how the crucible dice can be spent in various ways.

Little bonuses. Some of them more narrative, some of them are like adding to ability rolls and things like that, but it'll come up when it comes up um chill out so chill out calm down already come down we explained it once um all right so we are jumping in if we are assuming that uh zaron tekis was the last to act which is what i'm gonna go with so he says trust him then the next creature to act is the the sort of leader of this pack of gnolls, the gnoll cackler, which is the one with the large axe

here on the mini map. The frightner. Oh, he's next to me. Why is he called the cackler? Because, if you will remember, he let out a fiendish cackle that has frightened some of your allies. Can you do that again?

What did that sound like? I remember, I remember. I hate it. In the dead of night yes midnight um and uh what i'm gonna have is the cackler is gonna look towards oh ophelia you're looking pretty nasty and angry right now oh yeah i'm nasty then i'm gonna use moment of brutality the cackler targets a creature they can see within 30 feet of them yeah Can you make a wisdom saving throw for me, please? Oh! Oh!

What is that? Oh, it's okay, I see it. Uh, 14. 14, you succeed. You feel this creature trying to drive you. It's laughter, it echoes that hideous laughter, driving you to maybe lash out at your good friend Gruff, this ally that'sunch you that blood begins to fill your nostrils the scent of that rich thick blood

pumping through gruff's veins but you can feel this force trying to infect your mind cat flash links to resist it oh no that's the worst no No one wants that. I used to love Link's Africa. Yeah, he's got it for himself. Meanwhile, Xanthias. Hey boy. He's going to attempt to bite you. Ah, he wouldn't do that. Will, with a total of a 22 to hit. Could God in heaven have mercy on me?

Stop! Oh. He goes to bite. That's right. And in a flurry of green and blue light, the illusion of Seren flies down. If you remember in the last episode, Groff had sent their spiritual ice diver bird

to protect Xanthius. Illusion. It's a spiritual illusory kind of creature. Had to pay a lot of money to get that one. And it does, indeed. It can only be done, it is limited. It can only be used once.

Or is that the planet? That's the Star Wars planet. You're thinking of the Star Wars planet. Yeah, Coruscant. Coruscant, yes. It is a large metropolitan planet in Star Wars. The planet has stopped this attack. So yeah, it goes to bite and the bird swoops down

and fends the creature off, negating the hit. What a beautiful creature being gnarled by this gnar. Yes, but it does destroy the spirit and that ability. That protection is now gone. I'm not a gnoll. You're a gnoll? Nonger? No, that doesn't work.

I don't know. I was trying to say gnoll and goner. Ah, yeah. A gnollger. No. Carry on, mate. Next up. I'm good at DMing.

Good job, I am good at DMing. You're right, Kistra. That was like some emotional damage there. Gruffith. Hello. The Gnol Mroda, which is next to you, is going to take some strikes at you, I'm afraid. I've got to find the right one.

Over here we go. They're going to try and hit you with their sort of rusty hatchet. There's find the right one? Over here we go. They're gonna try to hit you with their sort of rusty hatchet. There's only a seven to hit. Does not hit. So flings down and is unable to strike and find purchase as they try to attack you. After them we go to Daisy.

Hi. I'm gonna stay where I am. Again, because I'm kind of spooked by that guy you say yes yes yes but even though I say begins to frighten Daisy is still scared of you know these are big pretty scary looking creatures for sure so I'm going to summon another blade from another radiant blade and I would like to throw it at the cackler please okay yeah absolutely so you see this kind of glowing blade of light another radiant blade, and I would like to throw it at the cackler, please. Okay, yeah, absolutely. So you see this kind of glowing blade of light,

almost like a gladius, like a Roman short sword form in your hand, and then you throw it. That was garbage, that's only a ten to hit. All right, well unfortunately a ten will miss, as the cackler kind of almost sensing it, and this predatory kind of animal instinct ducks down below the blade. And then with a bonus action, you would summon... Second blade. Second dagger. Well, dagger.

18 to hit. 18 will hit. They are next to an ally. Dagger, though. So it's a d4. So it's a d4. And then you get your sneak attack as well. Four. Plus. Did I get a plus to that? So it's a d4. And then you get your sneak attack as well. Four plus...

Did I get a plus to that? Yes, because it's the effect of the radiant blades. You're not fighting with two weapons. This is a specific thing of the radiant blade attack. And I get my sneak attack because... It's there, which is two d6. So three... Eight on the sneak attack. Eight on the sneak attack.

And seven on the first attack. Yeah, great. You can see that this creature is bloodied as this radiant dagger that now looks like the little dagger that you have on your belt, this radiant version, flies through the air, strikes in, and you see that radiance burning away

at its matted, blood-spattered fur, and something is reacting. You can almost see it burning away at whatever demonic presence is within these creatures. Flashing. She's just gonna go, and then tuck behind the... Well, well, well, well.

Welly, well, well. I have an unfortunate thing for you. I'm going to use its reaction, Fel Teleport. And when you damage this creature, sensing that celestial energy, it looks towards you, and as you duck behind,

it is going to immediately teleport. Oh. You daisy shit. I don't like that. Why not Feliport? That's correct. But that does happen when you damage it. So before you do anything else on your turn.

So as you damage it, it kind of, you watch these hellish dark flames engulf it and then it steps out of the shadows beside you. Well, I have used my bonus action, so I will just cower. Cower. I think she'll just be like, frozen. She's frozen.

You do hear your friend Nim's voice in your mind reacting as this creature gets this close to you the first time one of these things has been up close. Nim, that voice in your mind is just, spawn of the Hellion pits, I feel it. And there's this mixture of rage and fear, as if Nim's reacting to something in this knoll. It's demon blood. And you kind of get this sense that there is this rage and terrible fear that Nim is feeling right now.

But that is the end of your turn, Daisy. And we go to Ophelia. I would like to skirt around Gruff towards this knoll in between. Yeah. Do you want to get within five feet or do you want to stay at a little bit of range with your whip?

I can't remember. Do these guys have poison? They don't have poison blood, do they? You have not seen any sort of blast of poisonous blood she's learned her lessons so quickly in the campaign from that yeah they're poison resistant they do bleed this one is heavily this one is badly bloody its blood is pouring out of its wounds it's thick and there's a dark tinge to it, but it does look like blood. Marinara. Reckless bite.

Marinara. Step five feet in. It's quite difficult to get out of your clothes. A lot darker than that. A sort of marinara with a sort of black food colouring in it. Yeah, dark soy sauce added to it, like really dark blood. I'm currently frightened of the big guy. Yes.

So I just thought I I just roll standard. So it would be, yes, you would have advantage. With a disadvantage, it would just be a normal roll. Normal roll. If you're reckless, yes. Whip. 14. Okay.

Don't forget, if you want to use any of your dice, you have to announce it before you roll. Let's remember that you're famous. I should probably make these more visible. But a 14 total does hit. Does hit just barely. You managed to rip... It has this hide, very rough-looking hide armour, and you managed to pull it away and sink your fangs in.

I do six damage on my bite. I got a four on my d4. All right, six damage. And do you want to use your empowered bite to do anything else? I would like to... Do you have that as an ability? When you hit with your bite, you can use Empowered Bite. I also get a Blood Fury Point. You do!

Blood Point, numero uno. She's writing in red. Blah, blah, blah. I wasn't given character, but... Her notes are in red. Of course they are. That's called a spark, though. Let's...

Sorry, pardon me. That's all right. We're learning a bunch of new stuff. Like this Empowered Bite's the first time you've used this ability. Are you bleeding? I would like to gain a bonus to my next ability. Just so you can play. all right, we're learning a bunch of new stuff. Like this empowered bite's the first time you've used this ability. Are you bleeding? I would like to gain a bonus to build a chick.

All right, okay, so you get that bonus. You bite in an Ophelia, and this blood, as you drink it from this creature, the rest of you watch this gnoll kind of wither a little bit as it's kind of fighting, and is enough to kill it. Oh! Shit! You're terrifying. Have you got holes in your teeth?

You watch as the creature's body almost seems to shrink a little bit in size. Like, it's, you know, you can't see. It doesn't go pale. It's got, like, this fur, but its eyes kind of go like a milky white. And Ophelia, there is a horrid, bitter taste to this blood. It is not a good, this is not good blood to drink,

but there is strength in this blood. It is not a good, this is not good blood to drink, but there is strength in this blood, like more than other blood that you've tasted. This has a dark power in it. Oh no. As it feels you, you do feel this kind of overwhelming sense of greatness and strength kind of flow through you as you drain it dry, killing the creature. She's going corrupt, it's episode six you drain it dry, killing the creature.

She's going corrupt, it's episode six. She's like, nom nom nom. However, it did taste like blood zero, not like the real thing. Blood zero. It tastes like really bad filter coffee that I like served in a hotel, like real bad stuff. That's been sitting there for ages, yeah.

But the blood version. But the blood version. I guess I'll just stand in front of Rowan, because I think Rowan's down, and I'll But the blood version. But the blood version. I guess I'll just stand in front of Rowan, because I see Rowan's down, and I'll just stand protectively in front of Rowan. All right, well, it's the end of your turn, so you do get to make a saving throw

against that fear effect. I shall. Please, no longer fear. 12. 12 is not enough. Dang it! I'm potentially afraid, but also rage-jacking. No, very close. Like, you know, almost feeling that strength of that blood in you, Dang it. Detectually afraid, but also raised you. No, very close. Like, you know, almost feeling that strength of that blood in you,

but it's not quite enough to empower you away from this supernatural fear. And you know that you shouldn't be scared of this thing. This is like a supernatural magic fear that's taking over your mind here. All right, that brings us to the top of a round. I do think I get to do one thing which is when this creature dies this knoll here is going to bite i believe this is zaron tekis that he's currently fighting and he will immediately take a bite action as part of that uh that is going to be a hit i believe yes um so damage wise shame this i am going to spend one of my fate dice pools.

Oh, shit. That's actually spooky. And add this to my damage roll. You watch as Zarentakis is bloodied as this creature like... Tears out chunks of its flesh, chunks of the orc's flesh. It's like, get off me! And he's like fending with this thing, but he is now bloodied. We go to the very top of the orc's flesh. He's like, get off me! And he's fending with this thing, but he is now bloodied. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

We go to the very top of the round. The soldiers that have been accompanying you are gonna rush forward. Bliss is gonna move up to you, Rowan, and is gonna try and, are you dying? No, I'm healed. You're healed. He's just lying around. He's just lying around. He's just lying around right now.

In that case, they are gonna see Daisy in trouble. Cayde. No, Cayde, they are gonna see Daisy in trouble. Cayde. No, Cayde, you're too sweet for this world. He'll be fine. He's getting decapitated. And then, say that one more time. He's getting decapitated.

Oh, okay. Decaffeinated. Decaffeinated. The worst crime. No! No, no! I'm tired! Open your eyes! Please!

So two of the soldiers are going to try and assist the authoritor with their attacks. Unfortunately, Cayde misses. But the sergeant hits a solid blow. D8. Get that boy. Four. Archer B. Archer B was pretty badly hurt.

Pretty badly hurt. In fact, enough that Sergeant Guy Yoro comes in. He has a long, heavy-flanged mace. Beast! And hits it in the head and just crushes its skull. Yes! It collapses to the ground. That was something.

Gnalls, they make horrid hyena laugh noises. They do, they do. Same here. Yeah, he does manage to get that. The other two, unfortunately, are just going to have to take the dash action to basically get up and support Daisy, unable to attack.

But they do come rushing in. I believe it is Bliss and Daeron is the other soldier who rushes up to help Daisy. Yay! Fwain! Fwain's, that is their go. We then go to, they're now dead. They're now dead.

So soldiers. That's a good sound. Rowan! Rowan's going to stand up. I help you up. You slam me into the ground. I'll briefly clasp Gruff on the shoulder and say, thank you.

My honor. Having a quick glance at the people around me. How do you guys look? Not good. Pretty sweet. It's bad. You're bad. I'm here, pretty bad. Pretty bad. I bad i mean pretty bad pretty bad i like the best

i've ever looked in my life the shades are on how does he look he's bloodied he's bleeding from multiple wounds i would call myself bloodied also it's bloodied like half hbl yeah he's he's pretty bloody i'm uh possibly a one up from bloodied. He's that. Leaking. Leaking? He's leaking. It's a new condition I'm going to invent. Leaking. He's like a geezer.

Ravaged. All the blood's going to be on the inside. I'm trying to plug the holes but then it comes out of another. I'm going to pivot towards... My health bar is flashing. Yeah. Google, Google, Google. Utilising the hand.

This is why the hand is not good. The health bar is flashing. Yeah. Google, Google, Google. I'm utilising the hand. This is why the hand is not good. The hand is good. Look, it's working. The hand isn't working very well. It works now, okay. There's a technique to the hand. Imagine I'm facing the techies.

Yeah, well, imagine it. Podcast listeners, Trot has got his tiny little extender hand out. He's moving his miniature. So what I'm going to do is, as I'm running towards Tekkis, I'm going to turn around, and a green bolt of energy comes out of my hands towards Xanthius for a healing word, level 2. Ooh! Ah shit, that's a bonus action.

It is a bonus action. Okay, that's fine, that's fine. Oh, I'm going to do that anyway, because you're bloodied. Leaking. Leaking, yeah. 254. Decaffeinated. That's a bonus action. It is a bonus action. Okay, that's fine, that's fine. Oh, I'm going to do that anyway because you're bloodied. Leaking. 24. Decaffeinated. Plus charisma. Nine.

Nine HPs. Nice. This is big. And I'm going to cast... Oh, there's no baddies there, so we're fine. I'm just going to say, Are you okay? I will be fine. We must deal with the last one.

He's pointing to the one fainting daisy. He's like, I will be fine. Oh, he's the last boy. So that's bonus action. So you have your action left. I've got 60 feet of range. Am I within 60 foot of this naughty lad? I'm no longer frightened by him.

10, 15, 20, 23, 24, 45. 45 feet away. I'm going to cast Vicious Mockery on this fella. Vicious Mockery is a cantrip, so yes, that is totally doable. I'm going to say you are not that frightening. Wisdom saving throw? Yes, please. You've got 13 to beat. A 13 to beat.

I roll a 15. Oh, piss. Just like looks at you. You look into this creature's eyes, Rowan, and this thing is so mad. You're not even sure it's words. Your words really reached its mind. Like it is just controlled by hunger and madness

and insanity and carnage at this point. Like me. In real life. Oh. All right, Rowan, anything else on your turn, my friend? That's it, I'm done. Xanthius. Hey, what up?

Oregon. Hey, I will stay where I am, and I'm just gonna... Not Oregon, the American state. Oregon. Oregon. Oregon. Gone. Gone.

Gone like the wind. Oregon. Think of it like that way. I'm just gonna pop a fireball on this boy, which is an attack roll. Oh, big. That's a wolf. Oh, big. Hey, I hit Daisy. I roll a one.

What are you fucking doing? You're nowhere near me. I roll a one. I'm throwing fire. No, just a one. Oops, it goes 90 degrees to the other way. I accidentally hit Darentex. He's making a DM face.

There's a tent there. There is a tent. There is a tent there. All right. You watch as the firebolt soars past. That's a tent there. There is a tent. There is a tent there. No. You watch as the Firebolt soars past. That's a shame. That's a damn shame. It just flies off into the air. I think missing is enough.

In that case, I'm just going to stand there looking. Just going to stand there? Nothing else on your tent? Well, I look good. You do look good. Thank you. Then we go to Gruff.

Hello. Hello. Am I 35 foot from the last, no. Should be. Clark gets out his pointy hand. There's no point in me having it. Oh, fine. Stand down.

Tiny hands, stand down. Yeah, I think you can get there. In which case, Gruff, in seeing Daisy in danger, would immediately run over. And while he's running over, he casts Shalala. Shalala! Shalala! Shalala-la-la-la!

And I would like a fake dice, please. Just because I really want to hit. Yeah, all right. Well, I'll just spend one for you, so you can add your own d6. I really want to hit this. I'm going to throw this all over. Add a d6 to the attack roll.

Oh, that's a good thing I did. Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 11 to hit. 11 is not enough to hit, I'm afraid. As you go to strike, this creature brings up the axe and just parries your blow to the side, magically fueled as it is, and you do not strike. That's it. That's rough. End of turn.

That's my whole turn. Thank you for your company. I'm just here. Hi! I'm trying to make a bigger target. Look at me! We'll rush over demonic abomination, and he will cast Firebolt as well.

That is going to hit. The fuck? Yeah. It does hit. Ten, seven points of fire. He does hit. Ten. Seven points of fire damage to the creature. Nice. Everyone should be really lucky that I read the last bit of one of my spells, because

I was about to cast Ice Knife. Oh my god. Yeah, yeah. The last bit is it's any creature, not creatures of your choice. So I won't actually. any creature not creatures of your choice uh uh tekis runs over you see the the glowing scar down his orcish uh jawline um as he runs the black kind of leathers and coat he throws his hand this fireball does strike the creature um and you see its fur burns and singes it is still alive but it looks rough this thing is like a walking corpse almost it's nearly kit falling over but it just starts that hideous kind of

cackling um as it laughs uh beast die uh as he caught as he runs over uh and then it is the cacklers go um i think that it is too yeah basically it is going to, yeah, basically, it is going to lash out and just try and bite Daisy and Gruff, because Gruff tried to hit it. So I think it's just going to bite the two of you. It's going to try and make two bite attacks with its mighty attack. Against Daisy, that is only going to be a nine. Against Gruff, however, a 21. No. Except that I don't know you a nine. Against Gruff, however, a 21. No.

Except that I know that it does. The hoo. I'm too regular. The hoo. And I am gonna spend one of my dice. Of course you are. Absolutely. Hey, they're free to.

Hey look, they're there, they're there. Why am I gonna not use them? I'm a tank, bite me. Bite me? Bite me! You're a tank? Well, I've got the whole area of... I'm gonna split this out just. I'm a tank, bite me. Bite me? Bite me! Bruh. You're a tank? Well, I've got the whole order of overuse. I'm gonna split this out,

just because some of it is different. So it's gonna be five, six, seven points of piercing, and then three points of necrotic. So 10 total, but I don't think you have any resistances. I don't have any resistance. So 10 points of damage total. I'm just your cat. As it's, and it just bites.

And then I think that sort of, it is a wounded animal. It is going to, no, it's just in a mad frenzy. It's just trying to bite. It's like a wounded kind of cornered animal. It's just lashing out, desperately trying to defend itself now at this point. And that is going to be its turn.

So there we go to Daisy again. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. So, given what Nim said, I think I'm, rather than, I know it's right next to me, but I can still melee attack with a summoned blade. Yeah, with radiant blades, yeah. So I'm going to choose to use the radiant blade

instead of using my regular one. So I will summon... Yeah, I think it's just you can throw them up to 60 feet if you want to, but you can use them in melee as well. Mark, quick question. Are you going to spell one? Yeah. Okay, yeah, you can use that one if you want.

Quick question, Mark. So in previous combat encounters, you've had us get the overwhelmed, or like when there's three or more creatures... Certain enemies do that. It's not always. No, it's certain enemies have like so those hive creatures the belemorphs you have it's like um you know i can starship

troopers when they get swarmed by the bugs and you're just there's too many of them to fend off so they had a special ability that gave the overwhelm thing it's not a general combat maneuver okay yeah my follow-up question would have been does the null get overwhelmed yeah no it is a special thing and we don't use And we don't use flanking or anything like that. I'm fully whelmed right now. All right, let's see if this hits. It probably will, because that's a 16 plus two plus my bonus. That's an easy hit.

Cool. Did you get sneak attack? You have Gruff and allies within five feet. So seven damage on the attack. Yep. Then five sneak attack damage. All right, you plunge the blade in and you watch as it sizzles and burns whatever life,

whatever demonic force is controlling this creature. In its death frenzy, it gets to make one final bite attack against you, Daisy, as it dies, basically. Bitch. That is gonna be a 16 to hit. I'm going to, just because it's my last hurrah, I will also spend.

Here's your dice. Thank you. Put that back in the thing. So I'm gonna boost the damage roll on this, just to get one last big hit in. So that is gonna be eight. Now, do you have any resistance to necrotic damage? Do I? Do I? I don't know, do you have any resistance to necrotic damage? Do I?

Do I? I don't know. Do I? Probably not. Do you? It will say up in the, it says near your hit points you have resistance. Which section is that in?

Just by your health bar. Like a little box with R. Yeah, right at the top. Oh, you're in mobile mode. I am in mobile mode. Sorry. Dude. What resistances do I have?

Oh, fire, because of dragon. I have none. Features. Oh, it's because Mark's right in front of the camera. I was like, what a terrible cheer. I'm trying to help Kate find it I have your ancestry necrotic damage you do fuck yeah okay weird humans think all right well in that case then I would you say that some damage down so it's only gonna be it would be for necrotic it's

now to necrotic damage and then it would be eight ten points of piercing damage 12 total 12 total okay so it does in this last thing as you plunge the radiant blade into it it sort of spasms and contorts and then it just in a flash reaches down and bites into your flesh and tears and then goes lifeless as it is slain hell Hell yeah. The last of the creatures down. You see the soldiers kind of help Daisy. They pull the creature off of it. They begin looking around. Sergeant Guy will basically be like,

quick, Dayron, quick perimeter. Let's make sure there's no more around. He's like, on it, Sergeant. He begins checking around, just making sure that there aren't any more oncoming or any reinforcements or anything like that. Zaron Tekis will move up to the bodies. He spits on them and sort of, like, begins examining them.

And you watch as the bodies lay here, especially the ones that you've struck with that radiant light, Daisy, are the ones that were struck with any sort of radiant damage. Their bodies are melting. Oh. Like, bubbling, as if, like, burning from within. And you watch as, over time, this kind of light begins to pour over their wounds from inside

and just eats away at their flesh. Only parts of them, though. Parts of them are left undisturbed by this light. You see, like, their blood is boiling, and some of their organs, they're all malformed and twisted and mutated and they're burning away as well. But then parts of the creature are left, like its head, you know, its tongue, its mouth, all of that remains untouched. Are vaultspawn common up in Iceheart?

There would still be some, but they would be very different you probably i don't think gnolls would be as common but um vault spawn that you know take on like yetis would probably be a like a type of vault spawn so kind of if you take like any kind of classic a lot of the more sort of like monstrous dnd monsters they in in althea are some type of vault spawn so some sort of creature created by the proto magi that was let loose you know from a vault somewhere and has likely multiplied and spread around the world. And, like, you know, normally it's what knights and things are sent out to dispatch, like, you know, you all would have heard stories of things like chimeras and things like that and knights heroically going off to slay them because they're terrorising a village and things like that.

So, yeah, vault spawn are a common thing, but I don't think you've encountered gnolls before. But, yeah, I think, like, other creatures, yeah. Who else use vault spawn are a common thing but i don't think you encountered nulls before um but uh yeah i think like other creatures yeah yeah osseous has vault well i don't know if they would be called vault spawn there they'd probably be given a different name um but you have vaults you have proto-magic vaults in osseous as well yeah they're spread all over althea awesome um but they again they would probably be have they would probably have different names they would probably i think that they would probably be called necropoli or necropolis. Because they would be, you know,

the name for the proto-magi over there are the first mages. And they are known as the first ones or the first mages. And so they would probably be seen as more like necropolises or vaults of knowledge and things like that. I think the word vault would still be fairly known to you, though. Do we know of, I guess me and Daisy more than anyone, do we know of any vaults in this region or nearby? I don't think it's either of your two's real speciality.

Vaults are generally famous vaults. If you know of a vault, it's either of your two's real speciality. Vaults are generally famous vaults. If you know of a vault, it's probably been raided. It's probably something that knights or adventurers have already gone into and cleared out. Now, sometimes dormant vaults like that, the nature of vaults is they are so bizarre and alien, they can sometimes change.

And maybe after 200 years, a vault that everybody thought was empty and cleared out, it rotates inside and now suddenly it's a completely new vault. Don't do this to me! Don't do this! And so that can open up new dangers or things like that. I'm just thinking of the movie The Cube. There is a certain, yeah, there's an influence of things

like The Cube and stuff like that in there. Which I'm all, I'm down. Oh my god, we're gonna grind that shit for a spin. Back in, guys! We're gonna go back in! But that's the thing is, people don't have any control over it, though. This is the thing.

Take the vault. People don't know when vaults are going to open, if they change, if they don't change. Some people have, like, there are places here in Althea, and I think more on another place that we don't know anything about yet, but people have built towns and villages next to vaults

as kind of like a gold rush thing of like a right oh great new opportunity for magic items and artifacts and scrolls and knowledge we're going to build a town here and then they build the town around this vault and then there have been reports you guys would probably have heard of like this these like rumors and things of then that vault like blows up or like enshrouds the entire area in darkness and that town is lost forever. Wow, that's cool. Vaults are dangerous because they're unpredictable. You don't know how to open them.

You don't know what conditions they have. People have gone into vaults thinking, oh, great, it's open now. And then 24 hours later, the vault shuts and doesn't open again for 400 years. And those people are just lost. They're just trapped in there. That's sick.

So if there is a known vault around here, it's probably been cleared out, but gnolls, when they escaped from the vaults, and gnolls have been around for hundreds of years now, thousands of years, nearly, because when they got out, they just repopulated. They just bred and made more of themselves. So these guys might not have ever even come from a vault.

They just might be knowledge without a vault. They can't just roam freely. Yeah, they can just be creatures out in the wild. Okay. They might have like a warren or a nest somewhere nearby. There might be more of them. You don't know. You can have a look.

You can try and follow these guys if you want to go and track them down. Sorry, no. So, sorry, what time is it right now? Is this just before a warren? This was, you guys were setting up the camp just before, like, as sun was setting, you guys were getting ready for bed.

So, like, the sun is probably at this point, this battle only took, like, a few minutes at most. So the sun is still setting and there's just about enough daylight out there to, like, finish setting up the camp and things like that. Looking around, the soldiers are beginning to pull the bodies away into a pile.

They're, like, piling them up to burn them, basically. They want to help shift things around. Yeah, sure. Yeah sure yeah yeah they're welcome to help like kade will be like oh thank you thank you so much this bit it's not the nicest work unfortunately but it's better than um you know we just don't know maybe some magic might bring them back it's just we we burn them if we find them kate hi yeah uh roman big hand on his shoulder. Oh, hi. Big guy. Do you often take the road to Ashen's Rest? Yeah, well, I mean, I personally don't. I'm stationed in Ashen's Rest.

I haven't really left that often, but Captain Vicaro and many others, yeah. I mean, this is the Imperial Highway. This is a fairly well-travelled road. Yeah. I mean, I guess that maybe these creatures were just desperate or mad enough to just attack people they found,

but, like, normally this is pretty well patrolled. I mean, it's a good job it was us. I mean, if this had been, like, a merchant caravan or a wagon or something like that, these would have caused a massacre. Now, would you say this activity is more common nowadays? Are they escalating?

He kind of looks around and he's like, well, again, I don't really leave town, so I'm sort of just like a town guard normally. That's totally fine. There's nothing wrong with being a local town guard. You can ask the sergeant. The sergeant's a lot more experienced than the rest of us. Like, I mean, sergeant, I mean, Guy's been doing this for years.

He's been a guard for decades. One day, you'll be a sergeant. I hope so. Yeah, that would be great. I'd like to, yeah, sure. I just dump a melted knoll down, clap my hands. Yeah. Goodbye, Cade.

Okay, thank you. I head for the sergeant. Clap my hands. Yeah. Goodbye, Cade. Okay, thank you. Head for the sergeant. Okay, bye. And yeah, you see that they're sort of, yeah, blessing that and like trying to pull out, pile up these bodies. But yeah, you make your way over. Guy's kind of coordinating it.

He's just like, right, bring him over here. He's helping as well. He's not like a sergeant who's like making orders. Like he's stuck in there with them, dragging like these corpses around. And he's, you know, Deirondi, who's like a wolf animal, a beast heart. So a wild heart, sorry.

A wild heart. Yeah, sorry, I know. He's got little wolf ears and a tail, and he's mostly humanoid, but he comes back and he's like, I've looked around, Sarge, can't find anything out there. I don't think there's any more of these things. I think we just got unlucky. Maybe they caught whiff of the camp or caught our scent or something like that,

made our way here. We're just unlucky, I guess. Do you or something like that, made our way here, just unlucky I guess. Do you think it's safe to stay the night here or do we press on through the night? The sergeant probably, like, Daeron is like, oh god you're asking me? And the sergeant will turn over and say, it's alright son. I think we're okay, I think if Daeron can't find any trace of these things around, I don't think we're too close to like a warren or anything like that. I think we should be safe, I think we just got unlucky.

I think, like, well, we were unlucky, but I'm glad that it was us and not somebody else. Like, we could deal with these things. But, yeah, they must have just caught our scent, come down looking for a meal, found more than they were expecting, I think. Is it the same down here? In the north, it's normally the duty of knights

to dispatch of vaultspawn. If they're known about, yeah. So if we get word that there are vaultspawn nearby, especially like a bigger creature, you know, a displacer beast or a chameleon or something like that, I mean, they do dispatch one of his personal knights to probably go and deal with it. Or maybe a knight-errant who wants to prove themselves

will go out and try and slay them, prove themselves. So this could be comparative to knightly duties? I mean, yeah. I mean, gnolls aren't really... I mean, they're dangerous, but they're not, you know, the stuff legends are made from. I mean, normally I think that, you know, we're capable of dealing with this,

but yeah, I mean, I guess you could do. I guess hunting down monsters is what knights do. Would you be happy to write a little character witness for me that I assisted in the dispatching of these creatures? I mean, sure, yeah. I mean, you helped save, I mean, if it'd been me and just, if it'd been me and the others, I think we would have been, we'd be null dinner.

So, yeah, more than happy to. You all held your own in a fight. Great there. So he, like, looks around and he's kind of, like, admiring you. Like, yeah, you're clearly a seasoned warrior. And some of you have got some amazing magic. And he's looking actually kind of at Daisy when he says that because he's seen you throwing, like, glowing knives.

He thinks that you're some sort of mage. And he is sort of looking a little bit worriedly in ophelia's direction blood's just like dripping down the chin um but yeah he's uh he's like yeah i'll be more than i i mean sure i'll be happy to do that i think uh you'd be better off getting it from the authoriter and authoriters word is worth far more than a sergeant uh to be quite frank. Thank you, I'll ask him later. Yeah, sure. Graphers look very, like... I did a knightly thing, yay!

But, like, shy, please. Not, like, a kind of prideful... Yeah, yeah. Yeah, sure. Twisting your foot on the ground. I did a thing! Oh, shucks! I'm on my way!

Unfortunately, the bodies, they probably... oh shucks I'm on my way the unfortunately the bodies they probably the soldiers drag the bodies as far away from the camp as they can because they know it's going to create

a lot of smell and smoke and things like that but they do kind of begin to pile them up and yeah they unfortunately do just basically have to

set them on fire and burn the bodies of these things and it creates an awful smell it's like rotting meat being burnt they are these creatures those of you who did help as well like it's like rotting meat being burnt um they are these

creatures those of you who did help as well like i think like rowan and gruff did like these are disgusting creatures like probably bliss and that would come up and be like no no don't touch them with your bare hands like wrap your arms up or wear gloves or get a cloak or something don't don't touch them with your bare hands if you can help it. Ophelia, can you give me a constitution state, please? Yes, please. As you are noticing that these things are covered in, like, boils and pustules,

their wounds have been infected. Will you stop biting gross things? 17. 17. It is not, it was not pleasant

drinking that blood and, like, yeah, there's probably, you probably might have to, like, go away and just kind of, like, purge a little bit. Yeah.

But, yeah, you do not seem to... You feel okay. You don't feel too bad. First of all, I'm feeling most unwell. Come with me. Immediately is at the side. Just hold his cloak open while I just... Yeah, yeah.

He'll shield. Well, no, he's shielding. Giving you some privacy. No, look, please. But he probably extends the cloak and then has one bony hand on your back kind of like helping in that sort of thing. Thank, look, please. But he probably, like, extends the cloak and then has one bony hand on your back kind of, like,

helping in that sort of thing. Thank you, thank you. You know, making sure that none of your robes are caught up in it and things like that. But yeah, it was unpleasant.

But in the moment, just that desperation taking over. Yeah. And it was at least somewhat satisfying. Somewhat. All right.

Anything else from anybody else? Daisy's staying away from the fire and just sits and puts light on her dagger. She doesn't sit near the fire. Yeah. No, it makes sense. The fire, the pyre is being assembled elsewhere, but it's probably like a cooking fire

and like a campfire being set up. And you see, and you do begin to hear Katie, sorry, you do hear Daisy, that Nim, singing that wordless kind of just the, it's almost just pure arias and pure sound. There's no lyrics to it, but that very soft, gentle song that you remember as a baby, as a young child,

that same melody just being sung in the back of your mind, that calming presence. Yeah, she'll feel a bit better, probably. Rowan's going to go pick up his loot again that he dropped in combat. Mm-hmm. Well done. Oh, yeah.

Good detail. Nightmare. And then sit around the campfire. Can I, with my harmonious connection with the planet. Grand Pane. You can't do that. Don't do that. Sing some emo songs.

I want to see if I can hear that song. If I pick up on that song whilst listening. That Daisy's hearing. Yeah, you sit and focus, but you don't hear anything. You don't hear that song. Okay. You do just hear the gentle presence of Ulfé, of the world. Things seem calm in this area?

In this area, yeah, for sure. You hear, like, deep below the earth, there's probably, like, a layer of, earth, there's probably like a layer of, you know, you feel like a deposit of like a slate, an ash stone that is sleeping. You hear like a sort of gentle snoring and soft sounds of the rock that has yet been awakened to be disturbed. Sensing the uneasiness of the party,

Ronal start playing a nice melodic tune. And after a little bit, he'll start... No, no bad start. Never mind. And he just carries on playing. Sure. Instrumental. The song of two words.

Can you do a performance check for me? Yeah. It's like tequila. Tequila. Little devil. Tequila. 23. 23.

This beautiful piece of instrumental music, just the delicate notes, but somehow other sounds being created, you know, almost like drums accompaniment. There is almost the sound of chimes, but all just from this one lute and the strings as this beautiful music fills the air around you and provides this sense of calm after that battle

and provides entertainment. Like you see Bliss and so Bliss comes and happily sits there, pulls out like a little tambourine, has from her pack and just joins in, just kind of providing a little bit of company. She's not very good, but she wants to join in and she kind of happily keeps time with you. The sergeant guy comes over, starts telling some stories. It creates that kind of campy atmosphere.

Does Nim hear the music that- Mm-hmm, yeah. She stops singing when she does, and she listens, yeah. So I think I'll move close enough Yeah. She stops singing when she does. And she listens, yeah. So I think I'll move close enough that Nim can hear clearly what's going on. Yeah, yeah. So you get within like five, ten feet so that Nim can properly hear. Ophelia, did you say something?

Sorry, yeah. After Ophelia's done retching, she'll probably just slowly make her way over and just start easing into a dance as the music's playing. Yeah. Is it like a solo? Is this kind of like a solo dance? Using her whips like a ribbon and doing a ribbon dance.

It's very soft. It's very soft. Yeah, I think that Bliss would take a big notice of that. Bliss is mesmerised by the dancing and the music. You can say that there is an artistic soul in there um even if she is not practiced like just loves the dance and the singing and the music and there's like a joy that just this bright pink tiefling is just like so happy in this moment to go from this horrid fight to now this moment of song and dance um guy uh daeron and kate aren't you know they're enjoying it but they're not

really the musical kind of artistic-y types but they kind of get round maybe they probably pull out like a deck of cards turn over like a you know one of the you know a rock or something or find something to sit there and play a game of cards on and so yeah the camp kind of settles in I do a rap breakdown

I'll do the hard part Rowan diffusing everybody I do a rap breakdown. I'll do the hard part. Rowan, diffusing everybody, hello, best friends. Now that I have you enraptured in my melody, I'd like to play a little game. If that's okay, if that's too cheeky, let me know.

A game? A little game among friends. Among us? I don't want to play that game. I mean, we have time, Rowan. Okay. How do we play? What's the rules? Very simple game. Okay.

I begin. I pick one of you. You answer the question I give. And then once you've answered. Oh, it's getting quite late actually. You pick someone else and answer a question. And we all answer truthfully as we're all friends that trust each other. What's the name of this game? Trust.

I've never heard of it before. It's a lovely game. I'm just gonna take some notes. I'll play along. Well, Ophelia, the first question I have. Incredible music in the background, by the way. I love that you're talking whilst- Really peaceful.

Playing an imaginary bass guitar, it looks like. Bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom. If you look at my loot, it is extremely... What's the deal with Ophelia? It is super ornate. It is beautiful. It is otherworldly. It's pristine.

It's like petrified wood, isn't it? With these beautiful runic sigils that I don't think anybody here would really know or be able to read or notice um but it is yeah and a masterpiece a masterpiece that rowan is carrying very different to the rest of him which is quite comfortable and quite casual and i think he's like the way he's dressed and his outfit you know quality and things like that yeah but yeah a little bit smelly from the road, but that's it. What are you doing to it?

What? Where your clothes were. Yeah, clothes. Okay. Okay. Ophelia. Yes? Tell us a secret about Percival.

About Percival? Please. I don't know what you already don't know about Percival. So much. You've seen him? I have recently seen his body. Yes, he can't tell me anything. He doesn't speak.

Why do you have him? Because he's my loyal assistant. He carries all my burdens for me and he makes sure that I'm well kept and safe and that I have somebody to confide in. Can I ask a sub-question? Of course. What are the rules of this game?

It's open-ended. Sub-question? Yes? Why? It was a great gift bespoke- bespoke- bespoke- I'm very nervous. bestowed upon me by Osseus, by the House of Blood. He is a very noble gentleman. As Vol bows his head, when Ophelia says the House of Blood, he immediately lowers his head in respect. It was given to me to make sure I carry out my mission. Sub-sub-question. Well, I think we should have the game carry on. I just wanted to know one thing.

Does he like us? Do you like them, Percival? Percival just looks around. Oh. Just nods his head. He does. That makes me feel better. That's good to know.

That's good to know. You may now ask anyone a question, Ophelia. Hmm. Gruff. Hello. Why are you... You said you were in the north. Right. You came from the north. Iceheart. Yes.

So why are you here, down here in the south? What brings you down to this part of Althea? here, down here in the south. What brings you down to this part of Althea? Well, I'm setting off on a noble quest to achieve a dream I've had ever since I was a little bab.

I've always wanted to become a knight. But growing up in my little village of Tremorro, there's not a lot of opportunity. You contribute to the village, you help the village prosper, and that has been my life so far.

But I've come to a point where I was encouraged to leave and pursue my dream. And I heard in this area, near Caldra, there is a circle of knights I would very much like to join. That's very noble. Thank you. I try to be. I think you're doing a splendid job. You flatter me, mistress.

Oh, it's nothing. I can see the hard work you're putting into this, looking after Xanthius and everybody. I try and live by the virtues of a knight, of, you know, protecting the meek, infirm and the vulnerable and sharing wisdom and, well, defeating Volspawn. Ophelia, you've played this game before. You did some bonus points there. If you can compliment the answer, you get bonus points.

Oh, how many points do I get? Three. Ah! Brilliant! Your turn, Gruffin. Oh, I knew I'd be good at this. Put shades on. Sits back. I won.

Another addition to the rule, you cannot ask a question to the person that asked the question to you. Okay, this is very complicated. It is, I'm very lost. Gruff looks around the group, and for a second... I have one quick question.

Are you wearing gloves? Yes. Okay. What are these added details? What's this? What was that? I'm wearing my gloves. Oh.

Out of character, Jim. Yeah. They had a whole thing. I'm taking them off. Yeah. Gloves are off. He'll take a good look at Xanthius. How's Xanthius looking?

Shit. Is he meetinganthius looking? Shit. Is he meeting Graf's eye? For a second. And I think if he sees you looking at him, he will not turn away as such, but almost, he doesn't want to look you in the eye. He'd probably even glance over at Zarantekis as well. Are they all chilling around?

So, yeah, I mean, you're the first one to really pick up on it because you're actually paying attention. The soldiers are behind you playing cards. They've, like, bundled up some stuff and they've put, like, a piece of wood down, maybe a shield, and they're playing a game of cards on it. Bliss is happily sitting amongst you just listening in, enjoying the music. Zaron Tekis is sat behind all of you,

up against a temporary little shelter with a bedroll, just sat, just listening to the whole conversation, and is watching the group intently. You can see that they've bandaged their wounds, they've wrapped bindings and stuff around them, they're tending to their wounds, but they are very much enjoying this game of trust

everyone loves the game of trust especially inquisitors yeah all the time no one's got zone of truth right if I had that

that would be that would be that's cheating that kind of is I will also make a point it's good because Ophelia wouldn't

know this I don't know this. I don't know how much of you guys would care, but anybody who has an interest in things like lore, and I think Xanthius probably would be, things like casting Zone of Truth is technically an invasion of privacy. If you are not an authorized person to do it, same with detect thoughts. If you just go around reading people's thoughts

and people can accuse you of it and find some way to prove it, the hard thing is proving it. But there are laws that protect magic from being used against people and it certainly wouldn't held up in in court like in an authoritative court um an authority an authoritative has the right to use it because that's their job but they can't just do it willy lilly they have to have problem cause they yeah they basically need like words like this is a this is a land that has laws and things. Dragons got it right. Yeah, well that's the thing. The dragons have got

like, you know, it's hard for normal people to take crimes against dragons because they can hire the best authorities to protect them and basically be their lawyers. But there are a universal set of laws that the Empress set down to try and protect non-dragons as well from magical creatures.

And so that's why a lot of these laws exist. So yeah, so like Zone of Truth actually, something to consider is like, oh, am I going to get into trouble for using this? Like it's like a thing. Because like, yeah, just using it willy-nilly. If you've got a good reason and you can prove to an authority that you had a good reason to do it,

they might overlook it and say, well, I think you were doing this in the good interest of the Empire. I'm going to overlook it. But if you like, you know, if you go up to a noble or go up to a wealthy merchant and say, well, I think you were doing this in the good interest of the Empire, I'm going to overlook it. But if you go up to a noble or go up to a wealthy merchant and you're like, where's all your money, bro? Yeah, that's a good point.

And the merchant can, I mean, the hard thing is proving it. But if they can, then... See, my dumb troll brain, when you were like, they've got to prove it, my dumb brain just went, look at their character sheet!

Yeah, right? Yeah. That'll hold up in fantasy land. Yeah. But yeah. I think for Gruff, I mean, you are looking at Xanthias in a different light to everyone else, I suppose. I guess. So, I mean, I'm not sat there shivering and shaking

and looking around at night. I mean, if you wanna say Gruff can make it a insight check we could do that if you want like and just pick up on anything because it definitely seems to be a thing from Xanthius where Xanthius does not want to play this game that's the feeling I am getting from Tom that's right that's Tom doesn't want to play this game sound it's really doesn't want to play this game but I'm still trying to I suppose enjoy the moment and be yeah a part of the group. Still masked a little bit.

Is it like a deception thing? I'd say make a deception check for me and Gruff make an insight check. Why did I ask for that? I'm not going to because Gruff being Gruff and having, you know, what's going on with Xanthius, you know, we met on the road and the little chat we had, he'll see the little, like, dart. He does not want that, yeah. And we'll pass on.

I rolled my deception. I stand up and say, you don't know nothing about me! Dad! It's over, it sucks! Tom, just out of interest, before Kim finishes, what did you roll?

I rolled a five. Oh, good. So carry on, Gruff. Rowan. That was bad. That carry on, Gruff. Rowan, that was bad, that was bad. Rowan, Rowan, your beautiful lute. Oh, thank you. Where did you get it from? I've never seen anything like this before.

This is Sostenuto. Say that again? Sostenuto. Sostenuto. It was gifted to me from my village. And it's the best gift I'm still playing have had in my life. How are you spelling sostenuto?

S-O-S-T-E-N-U-T-O. Do that again. Sostenuto. Sostenuto. That's pretty sauce to me. I don't know the specifics. All I know is this loot has been on a long journey of creation that required almost the entire village

and their efforts to make for me. A wonderful... Would you like to touch it, Gruft? Honestly, I think I would sully it with my monkey paws. You would not, you would only add to its elegance. Gruft starts getting teary as well. Add the story to my heart. Gruft does a very gentle, like, holds out a claw and very gently plucks a note.

It ripples with some energy. And it is a clear note, like, perfectly in tune. It's beauty is surpassed only by your talent with the music. Please. That's very kind of you to say. Do I get the three points now? You get so many bonus points. Six or seven. I pass to someone else now, don't I?

Daisy. No, wait, is it Rowan? Rowan asks. I can ask a question. Rowan asks the question. But that's okay, Gruffydd. It's your first time. I was getting confused by the rules. The many rules. But I will go with Daisy as well.

Your powers are quite powerful. There is a glow that I've never seen before, that you've never done before until this battle at this camp. Tell us all about it. Really, I actually don't know that much about it. Oh. Trust.

You've never glows? But this is the first time. Oh. You're in a good space here Yeah I just got scared And that's what I did intuitively So It all just came out Yeah if I find out more

I'll let you know I can relate to that Daisy can you give me a deception check please It is partially true She's partially There but she's... I know, you are, there is things you are omitting, and by omitting there is an element of deception. Well, I rolled a two, so probably not good.

I think... Daisy is going to. Nym would certainly be like, do not reveal too much. You do not need to say more. Yeah. I'm kind of learning how to defend myself because I've just been on the move.

And if I come up against this kind of stuff, then yeah, I'm gonna have to be able to take care of it. And I didn't think I'd find a group of people to be with. Thought I was just gonna travel about. We have all found each other. Best friends. Yes. Best friends. Yes. Best friends. But, but,

if you have any tips on fighting or anything, you all seem very experienced. I kind of just flail wildly and hope for the best, so. The best thing about this game is you can ask the last remaining member of this party a question. I suppose that's me. Although Bliss is here, too.

Hello, Bliss. Oh, I didn't think I was playing. You can play if you like. You can ask Bliss as well. Okay, sure. Yeah, I'll play. Um... Oh, well, just to add to that,

I want to say that you seem to have great instinct in fighting. At the very least. You say you flail around, but... Flail! Yeah, you're flailing in the right directions. I mean, if you have a knife and you wave it around, you're probably going to hit something if they're trying to hit you, so... True. That's what fighting is, right?

Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen somebody conjure a knife made of light before, but... Again, no, you. Yeah. I mean, I've heard of mages that can just sort of make magic happen. They don't study it, it just sort of happens, right? Do you think that's maybe for you? Like, you just have, like, a natural magic? Maybe.

Wow. A gift from the proto-magi perhaps? Something like that? I don't know that much about them, to be honest. They kind of freak me out a bit. A gift from Scions maybe? I mean, yeah, it could be. I've seen priestesses and priests conjure light

that can harm vaultspawn and things like that. There was a priest that we travel with in the army once and they could summon a bolt of light. It was very effective. Maybe you're chosen by the gods. Well, if this is a power that you wish to learn. Daisy is going to use a charge. I'm gonna use a charge of my ability. Yes.

My whispers. Okay. And I can talk to two people because my proficiency bonus is two. So, going to... And if you roll the d6, that tells us how many hours. How many hours that I can talk to them for. Six hours! So you got me in your head for six hours. Well, who are you picking? Because I'm going to narrate a little bit.

This is the first time using this ability, so... I'm going to talk to Gruff and Xanthias. Okay. Because... I feel like he's got secrets, because everyone feels like he's got secrets. And I feel like Gruff is very protective. Mm-hmm.

So, and I feel like I'd freak out Rowan if I did it to Rowan. Okay. And you're scared of Ophelia? And I'm scared of Ophelia. Is this a... So is this, you ask Nimym to reach out to you? Yes. But I want to talk, not Nym.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you hear in your voice like, I will connect your minds. I will listen. Be cautious. I still... There is something about the Dragonborn. But the knight... Knight...

The seeking knight... The wannabe knight, yeah. I trust them. Nightlight. Okay. Gruff and Xanthias. As you're having this conversation and Daisy's talking, Bliss starts talking about this priest,

maybe telling the story about, like, they were on the road once and they fought some volsborn. You feel something. Like a soft hand is placed over yours. And then there is something like a light in your head. Like you can't see it, but it feels like something happens. And you hear Daisy's voice in your mind.

Um, hi, uh, never done this before. Please don't freak out. Don't freak out, because that would really make this not work how I wanted it to work, because I really want you to know. Anyway, hi! Um, I don't really want to talk about to work, because I really want you to know. Anyway, hi!

I don't really wanna talk about any more because I have a feeling that we're being listened to and I just don't think people should know things. And I have a feeling, Lysanthes, you don't really want people to know things either. So I'm just reaching out to you, you know, in your heads, because that's not creepy at all, but I'm reaching out to you in your heads to just be like, can we stop the game now, please?

Grossier is twitching quite alarmingly while this happens. Little sticky, yuppie ear. But it's nothing bad. It's good, I promise, and I will explain, but just what we're not with lots of people. Please. I'm trying to figure out how I'd react to it. I mean, in terms of magic, right?

Like, this is different to the message spell. But message, I presume, being cantrip would be quite common. It's fairly common. I mean, like, even for you, like, magic is common enough in the Empire that nobody's like, spell! Like, you know, nobody's like that. This isn't like Lord of the Rings where Gandalf is like, I'm a wizard, and that means something.

There are plenty of mages and spellcasters and priests who can cast spells and use magic. You've probably encountered the message spell. This feels very different to that. First of all, like, whisper. It sounds like you hear the message spell, like a whisper in your ear. This is like in your brain. This is like a thought

in your head. But it's nice. But it doesn't feel bad. It doesn't feel invasive. There is this kind of element of like you didn't really have a choice, that this was just like you now are connected to Daisy and somehow.

You can also technically speak to each other as well. This is like a three-way kind of little group call. I don't think I can reach out to any more people right now. So I picked you two because I feel like you might understand a bit more. Please don't tell people. I will say back, I presume in my head, I'll try it. Yeah, when you try it seems to work.

And Gruff, you hear this as well. Gruff is so confused. If you wish for the game to end quickly, just ask Bliss an innocent question and we'll call it there. I think I know the rules of this game. Okay. I'll do that.

Liz? Hi. What? Oh, do you want to ask me a question? Yeah. Sure, sure, sure, sure. I'll play. What's your favourite thing to cook?

Oh. Because you're really good. No, I mean, I'm really not. That's the thing is I've learnt to make that stew, but to cook? But you're really good no i mean i'm really not that's the thing is i've learned to make that stew but i'm to cook well i mean i i can't cook it my myself but you know my my mom used to make this great vanilla cake and like i'd love to know how she makes that thing i mean maybe if i get to go home to ferros alaska but like oh it's so good and it's really buttery and it's got this lovely vanilla kind of like cream

and just oh I love it I love sweets can you teach Rowan any of that I'll try to I mean if I learn

I can always pass the recipe on Rowan's in awe and is drizzling sure that's all you wanted to ask I really like food oh yeah sure I get to ask a question now right

can I ask the DM sure how much silence there was after the last bit well bliss was telling a story she was kind of like babbling about this like story with a priest that she traveled to in this glorious light but do you want to make an insight check for me oh this was after daisy's question though right no this is like whilst like yeah because like daisy was mentally communicating with the three of you so there would definitely probably be a bit.

There was definitely a weird pause, like Gruff like looked at Daisy. And his ear was twitching. And his ear was twitching. Xanthius probably also's eyes like glanced towards Daisy. There was like this weird pause where like Bliss was kind of talking, but they didn't look like they were listening. They looked like their mind was elsewhere, all three of them. Okay. You can't, but you don't know that they're tele their mind was elsewhere, all three of them.

You can't, but you don't know that they're telepathic. Yeah, I'm not into telepathy. But there's definitely like, there was a weird moment. Okay, right. But Bliss will turn around and say, so I get to, I guess, well, the only person I've got left to ask is Xanthius, right? Feel free.

Hold on, I am, oh, it's getting late. You wanna go, what question, man? This old man is feeling. Bliss, come here. Just the one question. Just the one, and then it's getting late. You want to go, what question am I? This old man is feeling... But listen, listen to us. Just the one question. Just the one, and then we go to bed. Sure, sure. You can have my tent if you like.

Oh, no, I wouldn't want to. Well, I've never... I've never met a dragonborn properly before. Oh. What family are you from? Well, I am Xanthius Oregarn, and I am of host Oregarn from G am of host Auragan from Gildai. Oh, from Gildai. Cool.

Yes. I am glad you are treating me with such respect. Gold Dragonborn in Kaldra don't tend to get looked on too fairly. Yeah, well, I mean, I'm from Feras, and we all know what happened a long time ago, but that was a long time ago, and I like to think that grudges won't be held too much. I mean, I guess it's different for me being a Tifling. I guess we try and just be very open and loving to most people. So it's a little bit different. But I hope you don't have too much trouble.

I appreciate that. I was just quite interested. Yeah, I guess it's up to you if you want to tell more. I'd love to know more about your family and what they do. Like, are they traders or are they merchants? Um. I guess I've had my one question right, so. We did do a couple of sub-questions though.

That's true, yeah, so like, yeah, what do your family do? What do they do? I suppose there's almost a strange pause of trying to remember. Yeah. They, in Gildai, are not too powerful family. Bankers, as most make sense. Yeah, the Auric Bank, right? So they work for the bank.

They do. And, yes, but I've been travelling for a while. I haven't been home in a while. But, yes, bankers in Gildi. Cool. All right, well, I guess if Mr Gruff wants to go to sleep, we're happy to win things there. Very tired.

Can someone fix my tent? It's on the floor again. You can have my tent. Do you want mine? I have... I just can't. I'll try and fix it. The sky looks clear, by the way.

There's no clouds or anything in the sky, even though it's dark. You don't think there's going to be any rain or anything tonight. It should be a fairly clear, mild night. All right, unless there's anything else, we'll wrap that up. How many points? Who won?

Is this a winning game? Thank you for playing, Trust. It's an ongoing score system. Oh, okay. How often are we gonna be playing? Every day. Every single day. Every night. Okay. How often are we gonna be playing every day every single day every night?

Okay Let's make it a monthly thing. We're gonna be friends for months. Oh, yeah Ronan's gonna sneak off. All right. I don't want to check in because Daisy had something that I want to check in. Oh no, I was just gonna say when everyone sort of scatters, Daisy will probably just say, so we're connected like this for a little bit. Okay. But I can just stop it if you want. Gruff, please, I can see you across the camp.

You're looking at me really weird right now. I promise it's fine. Hello? Hello? Hi. Oh, you can hear me? Yes. Okay. This is very strange.

I know. Please get out of my head. Okay. It's my dad on voice comm. It's just like, can you hear me? Is it working? It's too close. But thank you. You can't read my thoughts, can you? No, no It's just like, Kim, is it working? It's too close. But thank you. You can't read my thoughts, can you?

No, no, no, no, no, no. So it is something we actively have to push to talk. Yeah, it's not like a constant thought thing. It's like the messenger ring. You have telepathic communication with Daisy, basically. For the next six hours, the three of you have a telepathy connection and you can use it as you wish. But she's not going gonna use it unless,

she just wanted to say thank you for helping. I will explain, I promise, I just don't think I can explain when there's official guards and stuff. Anytime, Mistress Daisy. Thank you, Gruff. I promise it's not a negative thing, it's nice. If you're in trouble, and you're...

I'm not making for a more vulnerable, I'm fine. Well, I am probably all of those things at some point, but just now I'm fine. Okay, you let me know, young one. Okay, bye-bye, sleep well. All right, Ryan, you wanna sneak off? All I'm doing... How does a big man sneak?

Find out in a minute. Ooh, ooh, ooh! Is it like a conch in the Emperor's room? Kind of. He goes on his tiptoes. He's wearing sandals, right? Those toes can move real quiet. It's like Fred Flintstone.

All I'm doing is by everyone's bedroll or tent is leaving those little gemstones that I bought. With a little note saying, well done in battle, dash R. There you go. You will find a tiny, I think they were like, what, five gold? So there'll be like a topaz yellowy one or orangey one. Topaz for you, actually, probably. And then not diamond, but a jade.

Yeah, jade or a sapphire or something. Yeah, peridot or something like that. These are all cheap. They're probably not like rubies and sapphires. They're like kind of more mineral stones. Yeah, plastic. Not plastic, but like they're more mineral than gemstone. They have the colour of the...

They're colours, they're precious stones. They're worth about five gold each.. Yeah. Precious stones. They're worth about five gold each. Just in case it matters. Bank. I'm assuming, Rowan, you would also cook

and use some of your supplies for the cooking and stuff like that. Yeah, if there's any like fish stew left, I would carry on. I mean, you've got enough supplies.

It's basically about five gold a day out of all those supplies you bought. I think you bought like 20-something golds worth of supplies. Yeah. So out of your food supplies, it's about five golds day out of all those supplies you bought. I think you bought like 20-something gold's worth of supplies. So out of your food supplies, it's about five gold's worth each night that you cook it. But it means that nobody has to use rations,

and they're also a lot more comfortable and a lot more enjoyable than rations. Cool. All right. I'll just remove the ration then. Sure. No, you don't need to remove your rations. Take the supplies off. So, yeah.

Okay, yeah. I can't, yeah. Don't worry about it your rations. Take the supplies off. So, yeah. Okay, yeah. I can, yeah. Don't worry about it. Looking at Ophelia. Yes. Knowing what I know about Ophelia, and I suppose I saw her... Oh, yeah, you're a little sneaky, sneaky.

I suppose I saw that sort of, not blood frenzy as such, but a hunger. It, you know, looked a very particular way, I guess, maybe. Is that... Has that sort of dulled in my perception? Let's find out. Let's ask Ophelia. How's Ophelia looking?

I mean, HP-wise, she's fine. Yeah, just in behaviour more, I guess. I guess the... She's, like, stalking, I guess. I guess the... She's like stalking around as she's angry. The gnoll didn't really satiate her the same way and she's had to purge, so she's not really got that. She's not full, so she's still hungry.

So I suppose, yeah, she's still in camp looking at the little blood gemstone, but almost like hyper hyper fixating on it like it's taking her attention away from something else like she's just zoned on that okay yeah because i think in uh some idle moments i probably would not like scan you as such but like um glance over i want to try and do it yeah she's doing. Yeah, try to identify, I suppose, the mannerisms this might manifest as. Sounds like you'll probably need a bit more study

than just one night. No, yeah, absolutely. The gem looks like blood, so it's not really helping. Oh, for God's sake. Like a little... Just taste it like a little mint. Yeah, like that gem really takes a lot of your attention

and you find yourself thinking about it at a different time and thinking about things back in Osseous and thinking of blood and a lot of stuff happening. But anything else for this evening? When Daisy finds the little gemstone, she will just go over to Rowan and just hug him and go, Thank you, new friend.

Hug his leg. That's quite all right. Do you like it? I love it. I know you would. I picked it out. And then go to bed. Keeping in mind that Daisy probably does

just barely come up to Rowan's weight. Just a pat. Like, Rowan's, like, what, nine feet tall? Like, eight feet tall? I think a Yachtnir would be probably about eight feet. I don't think they're quite nine. They're, like... They're still pretty tall. It's a Yachtnir would be probably about eight feet. I don't think they're quite nine. They're like,

they're still pretty tall. It's big. Like, because they're hot, they're giant blooded. Like, we're not, because like,

you think about in real life, like six two is like, a lot of people are like, you know, six two, so you need to go bigger than that. So like seven feet.

I mean, I know. I know. Chris Trott, I know that. But like, you know, even like six foot,

but seven feet is obviously still big, but I think for a giant, you would be like seven and a half to eight feet tall. Daisy's what, like five feet? So it's like, there's a big height difference. She'd probably wait until like, if Rowan's like sitting at the fire or something

and she'd just like hug his arm or something. Like, and then go. Just to add a sense of scale to it, like Rowan is big. He's tall. A chunky lad. He's a chunky lad. I'd say probably like seven and a half to eight feet tall.

No exact amount, but big. Yeah, and quite bald as well. And quite bald as well. And I think, I don't know how tall, how big do you imagine Gruff being? I think he's definitely the next in line. So like six feet plus kind of thing. We're talking like six and a half big kind of.

Yeah. I was about to say wide as well, but like, I don't know, actually. He's got a belly. He's got a bit of a dad belly. Old man strength. Dad bod. Old man strength. You can be big and you can have strength, though.

Like, look at power lifters and stuff. They're big guys. Yeah, but I don't think they're bulky. No, yeah. Yeah. He's got a bit of a dad bod. Yeah. I feel like six five is probably like a. It's kind of higher. It's still tall. Like, it's're bulky. No, yeah. He's got a bit of a dad bod. I feel like 6'5 is probably like a...

It's still tall. Like, it's still big. Yeah. What about Xanthius and Ophelia? It's mostly his beautiful mane. Yeah, that probably adds a few extra inches as well. He's like a cat. When he gets wet,

he looks a lot thinner and skinnier and shorter. What about Xanthius and Ophelia? Just because in my head, I want to kind of picture the lineup. Do guys see them being tall or like middle height or um i'm not i'm not gruff tall um but tall but well how does ophelia i wrote five eight on mine so like it's about the same height as me basically yeah five eight yeah um what uh what's gruff as sorry? I don't have an exact height in mind. Tall. Tall, yeah, six and a half. Yeah, probably around six.

Okay, so it'd be like Rowan, Gruff. I think even in the artwork we've got that sort of scale. Someone did a really good scaled one where I was like, that works. I've seen a lot because obviously Rowan being a Yotnia, which is like a half giant, I'm like, people need to know that this man's big. Like he's a big boy, he's a big boy. He's a big boy. Big.

Especially, like, yeah, the extremes is Daisy's, like, 5'2", 5'3", which is, like, my height, and then Rowan's freaking giant. Yeah. Giant. Right. So, yeah. Well, I guess my question is, you know, you guys all sit down, you go to bed and camp.

Is anybody not sleeping? No, absolutely not. No. Well, you tell me. Honk, shoo, me, all sit down, you go to bed and camp. Is anybody not sleeping? No. Well, you tell me. Honk, shoo, me, me, me, me. Honk, shoo, me, me, me. Oh, right, that's your sleeping noise. Yes, you do manage to fall asleep this time. Oh, good.

Yay! I guess my question was very much meant for someone specific because I've seen the way that you've been looking. What's the plan? I mean, like, this is up to you, Rhi. Like, does aphelia try and sleep um you do need sleep i do need sleep it's been i've not slept for a night so far yeah any more than this and we're probably gonna be talking exhaust oh you didn't even get any sleep

after no no not okay first night i stayed up all night first night or first night first first night First night. First. First night. First ever first. First night. I don't like that growl. That was a very vampiric noise. I liked it. She's not sleeping!

Okay. Oh, Rhiannon! So, while the rest of you drift off asleep, Ophelia, you, in that time, you are gonna gain a level of exhaustion here. That's fair, yep. In that lack of sleep, now being up for well over,

close to like, you know, what, 48 hours normally, nearly? Standard. You've been examining this little tiny red, like peridot garnet gemstone thing, and you're seeing like almost flashes of memory. You are back in the Baroness's suite, in their workshop, in her workshop, with all those glorious gemstones and the tools,

learning that secret craft, the thing that she showed you. You remember hollowing out that first gemstone, watching that crimson liquid dripping, drop, drop, drop, filling the gem. You remember her delicate hands, pristine, flawless, timeless, as they weave the runes and the rites, sealing the magic of the stone. Remember your first fumbled attempts to do the same,

your hands not perfect like hers, not ageless, not bestowed with the gift of eons to learn, but always patient with you, always so kind and eager to teach you remember watching her as she would drink that beautiful crystal decanter pouring that red crimson remember the first time you tasted it when she offered it to you taste nothing is ever compared to it. No food, no drink has ever quite hit the same way that it did. That first drop of blood. That's as these memories really assail you. You feel the fangs biting into your lips

as you are clenching them so hard that you're drawing your own blood. You look up from the gemstone to see your companions around the fire sleeping peacefully. And beside you, you see Cayde and Daeron and Sergeant Guy and Bliss all peacefully sleeping. Even the Authorita, eyes closed. Helpless. What do you do?

Oh, no. Oh! Yes! Let's go, Rhi, let's go. He's gonna go hunting. Okay. Jesus Christ. I mean, it's not much of a hunt,

depending on what you want here. Like, if we're talking, like, animals in the woods, or if we're looking, there's... Now, you've pretty much made a promise to your travelling companions, but those soldiers... Very different story. Some of them were injured in the battle. You can see Cade, Sergeant Yoro, and Daeron all took injuries and they have bandages and things like that.

Oh, the moral quandary I am under. You did this to yourself. I did this to myself. I make no apologies. You gave me full permission to tantalize you with this. You gave me full permission to tantalize you with this. I think he's gonna go into the woods. Okay. And look for something tiny to nibble on.

For now, for now. For now, I'm gonna spend a point of Freight from the Crucible to add a complication. Do it. Oh. That, these gnolls that attacked you, they're demonic in nature and their presence has frightened away most of the wildlife.

You can still try to find these animals, but it's gonna be a lot harder to do. So if you can give me a survival check, please. Okay. Most of like the big game would have fled this area oh yeah i know 13. you look around ophelia and you spend maybe an hour two hours hunting stalking through the night you don't find that be disadvantaged because i'm not still asleep uh you would have a minus one to that so use the new exhaustion, so 11.

You search and search and you find nothing. Maybe hear a few birds and things like that, or like, you know, night creatures, but they're too small. We're talking like tiny hedgehogs and things like that, scuttering away. Certainly nothing to say to you. And then all the time you can just see the flickering embers of the fire, the dying fire, your night vision, your dark vision. Dun dun, dun dun, dun dun.

Okay. You can almost see the veins. How many are sleeping? All of them. Everyone's asleep. Is that four? There's four soldiers, Zarantekis, and then your companions.

Is nobody watching the camp today? Oh, I guess, yeah. I mean, there would be probably somebody on watch, actually. That's a very good point. The soldiers split the watch into two. Yeah. So I will have... I'll roll randomly.

So I'll do 2d4 to pick which one's rich. So this would be Bliss and Sergeant Yarrow are currently on watch. Can you give me a stealth check, please, with minus one? Yep. Use your exhaustion. Ha-ha! Three. Wow.

Clonk. So you snuck away, but as you return, Sergeant Yaro will look up and be like, Hello, miss, are you all right? You shouldn't go off into the woods, like, kind of having seen you now awake. Oh, pardon me, sorry, yes. I just thought I heard a noise and I just went to go have a little investigate. Oh, I don't recommend that, miss. We should stick together here.

I just didn't want to be a bother. I know, it's all right. It's not a problem um and he just kind of like goes back it's all right me and bliss have got this we'll keep watch and they kind of turn not they're not suspicious or anything like that like you could have gotten up for like maybe to you know uh you know relieve yourself or something like that but uh they kind of sit back backs to you looking out away and that is the point with Rhiannon's torture that we are going to take a break

and that is where we're going to end part one and we will see what Ophelia does in part two thanks for watching see you in a bit

oh no bye bye Bye. Bye. Bye.